Tea shops · Cardiff, United Kingdom
Tea shops · Cardiff, United KingdomBird & Blend Tea Co. Cardiff
The tea blender's Royal Arcade shop: a wall of 100 loose leaf blends, mixologists at the counter and a Welsh-cake rooibos made as the Cardiff signature.
Every shop in this chain has the same wall. What makes the Cardiff one worth a detour is the one pouch that exists because of the city.
Bird & Blend Tea Co. keeps its Cardiff shop at 1-3 Royal Arcade, in the Morgan Quarter, and the company's own page for it is friendlier than most shop pages: it introduces the store manager by name and invites you to visit the other independents on the high street on the same trip. It opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. The staff are called tea mixologists, and their job is to walk you along the wall of 100 loose leaf blends and make an iced tea or a tea latte at the counter while you decide.
The catalogue is built on blends rather than single-estate leaf, and the pricing follows one grid. The classic end of the wall, Builder's Breakfast Brew, Assam Earl Grey, Earl Grey Creme, Sunny Sencha and the Peppy Mint peppermint, is 6,00 £ for a 50 g pouch, with 20 g tasters at 3,50 £ and bigger pouches for the blends you settle on. Coconut Milk Oolong is 10,50 £ the 50 g. The matcha range starts from a Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha at 22,00 £ for a 30 g tin, which the company says won a Great Taste Award and underlies all its flavoured matchas.
What sets this branch apart is Welsh Cake Cwtch Tea, which the shop page presents as its signature Cardiff loose leaf: a caffeine-free rooibos blend with cinnamon and fruit, named after the griddle cake and the Welsh word for a hug, sold in a single 50 g pouch at 8,50 £. The Cardiff store also runs a calendar of events: tea blending workshops where you build your own pouch, evening tea lock-ins, and a matcha masterclass ticketed at 45,00 £ on the company's site. If a blend disappoints, the company's happiness guarantee says it will replace it.
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Where it is
Royal Arcade
1-3 Royal Arcade, Morgan Quarter, Cardiff CF10 1AE
Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun 11:00–17:00
What to buy here
English Breakfast
Builder's Breakfast Brew Tea
from £ 6 · 50 g pouch
The strong black blend at the classic end of the wall, in the 50 g pouch and in a 20 g taster. It is the shop's answer to a builder's mug of tea, and the pouch to buy if everything else on the wall looks like dessert.
See our page on this tea →Cream Earl Grey
Earl Grey Creme Tea
from £ 6 · 50 g pouch
Earl Grey with vanilla cream notes, in the 50 g pouch, the 20 g taster, a 150 g tin and tea bags. It is the best-known blend in the range and the one to take home if you want the house style without the novelty.
See our page on this tea →Matcha
Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha
from £ 22 · 30 g tin
The unflavoured ceremonial matcha in a 30 g tin, with a 100 g refill pouch for people who whisk every morning. The shop's many flavoured matchas are built on this one, so it is also the honest way to judge them.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Welsh Cake Cwtch Tea
£ 8.50 · 50 g pouch
Welsh Cake Cwtch, the rooibos blend the shop page introduces as its signature Cardiff loose leaf: cinnamon, fruit and no caffeine, in a single 50 g pouch. Every other pouch on the wall is in every other branch; this is the one that only makes sense here, and the souvenir to carry back from the arcade. Brew it long, with boiling water, and it holds up to milk.
See our page on this tea →All prices
Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder's Breakfast Brew Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Assam Earl Grey Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Earl Grey Creme Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Sunny Sencha | Green tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Peppy Mint Peppermint Tea | Herbal infusion | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Welsh Cake Cwtch Tea | Rooibos | £ 8.50 | 50 g pouch |
| Coconut Milk Oolong Tea | Oolong tea | from £ 10.50 | 50 g pouch |
| Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha | Matcha | from £ 22 | 30 g tin |
Teas you can find here
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